Week 7: MAUS

I did not know much about graphic novels before I took the literature of graphic narratives class, I began to get aware of more knowledge through research by taking this course. For this week, I was assigned to read a graphic novel “Maus”, created by Art Spiegleman. I already knew about this comic because it is well known. I considered it would be a good chance to know better so I started to read, and realized the Maus was a legendary graphic novel.

Art Spiegleman was a Jewish American comic artist who wrote this book based on the interview with his father Vladek’s experience of Holocaust during the second World War. The storytelling was very interesting that laid with the past and present perspectives. The story started with a prologue and Vladek quoted, “Friends? Your friends? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week, then you can see what it is, friends!”, in there, I could see how much he suffered during his life in Auchwitz concentration camp. Then the chapters continued that Art interview his father that consisted with Vladek’s meet-up with his dead wife Anja, Draft the battle for the second World War, separation with Anja due to being captured as a prisoner, his life in Auchwitz, and reunion with Anja. There was also confrontation with Art and Vladek over his wife’s suicide because Vladek destroyed Anja’s diaries. Art blamed him for the death of his mother. The storytelling was very fluent and interesting that combined Vladek’s suffer as a Jewish and personal conflict with his son.

                                              

There were plenty of media sources about the Jewish massacre through novels, movies, or documentary films. One of the notable examples was “The Diary of a Young Girl” that contained Jewish people’s hard experiences. I thought the Maus would also go with a similar storytelling direction. Instead, Maus also dealt with racism towards the black people based on Vladek’s story. Even though Vladek himself was a victim of discrimination, there was a scene where he was racist towards a black person. It was a fresh idea for me that victims of racism can also be perpetrators of racism.

The other interesting element was that the Maus used a metaphor with animals representing each nation: Jewish as mice, German as cats, and even more. Graphic novels have the opportunity to explain character dynamics through visuals. In this narrative, the Jewish people and the Germans had a clear food chain, mice and cats. It was easier to comprehend the animals’ relationships.

Overall, the Maus is an adult comic with a cartoonish styled art but very serious political storylines. The more I read graphic novels, the further I expand my views. The Maus is a great choice for others to broaden their mentalities about humanity.